MYST post #3: Philomena

    Philomena tells of Philomena Lee's growing yearning to locate and re-connect with her son, Anthony, — one who had been given up for adoption years ago. This possibility becomes a reality through the introduction of Martin Sixsmith, previous government spokesperson and current journalist. His interest in Philomena's story — teen pregnancy intertwined with convent living  — allows the two of them an opportunity to travel from Ireland to America in search of her son. Though the trip reveals news of Anthony's early death from AIDS, it simultaneously provides Philomena with closure —  he never allowed his Irish roots to fade away, nor relinquish his life-long attempt to find Philomena.

    Complex cinematic techniques were not a prominent feature of this film — the simplicity and straightforwardness of the techniques mimicked the subtle air surrounding the film as a whole. This contrasts with Citizen Kane, where every scene seemed to have three possible interpretations until you took into account all of the camera angles and lighting and stage-setting and realized the number of interpretations exceeds a dozen. While I can understand that the viewer may feel it to be an over-kill, I appreciated the heavy use of cinematic techniques in Citizen Kane — it appeared to be a deliberate attempt to counterbalance Kane's inability to convey his own thoughts and emotions — all of the camera angles and shots were struggling to compensate for his ambiguity. For Philomena, the importance was both in the words being spoken, considering this was a dialogue-heavy film, and in facial expression — particularly the eyes. As a result, there were a lot of close-ups throughout the film (and centering of the character's face/body within the shot). Very plain, very blatant in its purpose: watch this person's face. This person's face will reveal a lot more about what they're thinking than they're ever going to admit. I also appreciated the static look of the movie — lots of moments where the audience is staring at a car winding down the road, or a woman sitting in her chair, or two people simply walking along. Nothing tricky.

There were a lot of scenes I could convince you were my favorite, but one in particular stood out because it evoked such an unpredictably authentic reaction from me. The two, Martin and Philomena, wait to board a plane back home due to the startling discovery of Anthony's death, thus putting a halt to Martin's human interest story and Philomena's hopes. As they sit, Martin pulls up a picture of Philomena's son standing with President Reagan — he was a senior official for the Reagan administration — to show her. Her delight abruptly shifts to dismay as she recognizes one of the cameramen in the picture to be Martin. Taking a closer look, he confirms his presence in the picture (before his job as a journalist he worked for the BBC). As a memory of that day begins to strengthen in Martin's mind, he recalls actually having met Anthony face-to-face. Sharing this news with Philomena, there is a shift in her whole way of being. She becomes unreservedly giddy — teeming with elation at the idea of being able to store even the slightest bit of this new knowledge in her mind — the strength of his handshake, the way he said "hello." This raw sense of desperation was permitted to surface in the loveliest of ways — every word that passed through Martin's teeth she plucked up and held close. 

I knew this scene had impacted me in a wonderful way because I found myself reacting to this flood of emotions in such a personal way, despite the fact that I never had (or lost) a child of my own. 

I could talk for ages about this movie…but I won't, obviously. HOWEVER, this was one of the most pleasant, satisfying films I have ever seen — I would highly recommend it. 5/5.